The Agreement
by Samurai Smee
Summary: Slow burn Rickyl. Shane and Daryl have a secret agreement that helps keep Daryl's demons in check. However, upon Rick joining the group and taking an interest in the redneck, followed by Shane's later death, Daryl might have to go to someone else for help. Rated for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

The Agreement

Chapter One

_Daryl's POV_

"Ha...f-fuck...Jesus Christ, Shane..." I could not help but groan for the man behind me to hear, my words causing his rough hands to squeeze my sides tighter, "...harder."

"Oh, is that what you want...?" Shane taunted me and I could hear the wicked smirk in his voice as he delivered one particularly brutal thrust of his massive cock inside me, and I hurriedly adjusted my iron grip on the tree bark in front of me.

"Don't you worry none," the former officer of the law practically purred to me, circling his hips for a admittedly tantalizing moment before driving his sex into me hard, hard enough for me to see white spots dance in front of my eyes for a moment, "...I'ma take care of you...I always do."

I had lost count of how many times Shane and I had ended up in this exact situation, having gone and separated ourselves from the campsite, hidden amongst the trees and hills, with him right behind me making me shudder in pleasure.

But it was not just for pleasure that we continued to meet like this.

Several months ago, when Merle and I had been accepted in with this group, Shane had immediately sensed my restlessness.

At night, I could hardly sleep.

When awake, I was always angry, always fighting with someone.

More than a few times, Shane and I had gotten into in all-out brawls, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I had been the cause of those times, practically egging him on to throw the first punch and let me see what he was made of.

Stupid.

I can remember when he had finally had enough of my bullshit and pinned me to the ground, demanding I tell him what was wrong with me.

I remember I wanted to break his spine in half until I felt a most peculiar sensation, something I was not familiar with...and it made me freeze.

Shane had snaked his hand down inside the front of my pants, grabbing my cock and feeling it swell with blood under his touch, signifying my unrelenting need and answering his question at the same time.

"...I...I just...get so fuckin' frustrated, man, with all this...just out of my fuckin' head and shit, and killin' geeks don't do nothing no more," I had struggled to put into words how I often felt like a caged animal always with an ax to grind to anyone who was dumb enough to cross my path, and how I did not know how to release these feelings that would choke me more than they would help me.

I always felt on edge, like I was constantly on the brink of entering some prize fight where no matter what I did, I would never be ready.

It was an agony that sometimes I could not help but push onto others...and Shane must have understood some small part of that.

"...ugh...goddamn, Daryl..." Shane moaned thickly behind me, pulling me from my wandering thoughts of the past as he continued to pound his heavy erection into me now in an unsteady rhythm, "...getting close...you ready...?"

"Yeah..." my answer was whispered, muffled by my own building pleasure as well as the tiny shards of blackened shame that slowly crept through every inch of me, "...little more..."

I could feel the precise moment when Shane's dick pulsed with his release that rushed hot and slick inside of me, the act prompting my own come to suddenly erupt from me and I could feel all the tense muscles in my arms go lax and weightless against the tree.

Shane never said my name when he came and I never said his.

He gave a few, weak thrusts of his hips against my ass before slowly pulling out his softening member with a squelch that made me lower my eyes.

We knew that words were unnecessary between us at this point.

He had given me what I needed and now was the part where we both just walked away.

My anger was sated, my nerves calmed to a point to where I could easily fall into a deep slumber if I wanted to, and it was only during this temporary heaven that I finally felt at peace.

My raging soul would go still...and I would just feel better.

My breathing was still ragged, my chest rising and falling as I watched as Shane fastened his belt and fixed his jeans, his steady, too-dark eyes watching my face impassively.

He always wore such an unreadable expression, but it was not as if I needed to ask him anything.

It was never gentle with him, never comfortable.

We never talked about it afterward.

It meant nothing.

Every time.

This had been our agreement since the beginning and even though it served its purpose in finally silencing the demons that often warred inside me, it could not have been more hollow.

I hated to admit it to myself, but while I watched him walk back to the campsite to join the others...I felt a unmistakeable melancholy come over me, filling the spaces inside of me where my anger had previously been.

I felt sick.

It was with sluggish fingers that I zipped my dirty pants back up, barely able to lift my chin as the full weight of this newly discovered burden settled directly across my shoulders.

What was my problem?

Why was I acting like this?

Wasn't Shane giving me exactly what I wanted from him?

The answer struck me loud and clear inside my own mind, as I decided I had let Shane get far enough ahead of me before I could allow the others at the camp to see me walking around as well.

No.

I was not getting everything I needed.

Not anymore.

I needed more.

I needed something else...

I sighed as I squinted my eyes to ward off as much as the sunlight as possible while I reached down to pick up my crossbow from leaning against the same tree trunk I had just finished gripping like my life depended on it.

I quietly made my way out of the treeline and crossed the sunny main area of the camp sight, hoisting the heavy crossbow a little higher on my back and feeling as if I just wanted to disappear.

I could hear some of the women down by the quarry washing clothes while their children played.

Dale came out of the RV with binoculars in his hands, ready to assume his usual post on top of the vehicle at the highest point in our camp to keep watch as far out as he could see.

"Oh hey, Daryl! Can I talk to you for a second?" Dale called out to me when I had walked passed him, his gaze leaving his binoculars as he made one final adjustment and then looked up at me.

I only turned around in place rather than walking all the way back to him, not being able to help the look of utter irritation from reaching my face even though I knew he did not deserve it.

"What ya want, ol' man?" I spoke with a tilt of my head, able to mask my own personal problems with disrespect.

Dale didn't seem to mind as he stepped closer to me.

"We're running a little low on food. Not right now, but in the next few days, we are really going to be a tight spot here," Dale explained somberly, his aged face showcasing his worry while he continued, "...I was hoping that you might hunt us up some meat that we could use to get by before..."

"Whoa, hol' on now, you ain't gotta go into all that," I cut the older man off, my weight shifting to the other foot and a little further away from him, as I focused my gaze at his wide eyes from the angle I had put between us, "...I get it, I'll go hunt."

Relief broke out across Dale's face as he fixed me with a genuine smile.

"That's wonderful! I'll let everyone know the good news," he beamed at me as he moved the binoculars in his hands.

I had to look away from his bright smile, his words of praise, only flicking my eyes back to him for another brief moment to acknowledge our accord before walking away.

I breathed easier now that I was no longer receiving attention like that and was able to once again be alone.

I hated how I had not been able to help but search Dale's words for anything misleading or false when he had spoken with such positivity towards me.

I never trusted something like that, not right away.

But I would have bet anything that it had been for that same reason that I had stayed alive this long.

That and Merle.

"...just another of my more fucked up qualities," I mused aloud to myself in painfully dark humor as I lifted my crossbow off my shoulder and held it easily in both hands, feeling more than ready to immerse myself back in the quiet forest with a job to do.

I felt off and I yearned to be away from everyone else again.

Who was I kidding?

I really needed some time to sort my head out and stop thinking on...whatever this problem was.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Third Person POV_

Daryl's breathing was soundless as he remained crouched low where he was, crossbow resting on a fallen tree trunk while his sharp eyes remained fixed on the buck out ahead.

"_Just a little further...then I'll have the shot,"_ Daryl thought to himself as he dared not move a muscle, only waiting with an eerie patience as the deer sniffed a few leaves on the ground and remained unknowingly shielded from the razor-sharp points of the hunter's arrows by a few trees.

Suddenly, the deer lifted his head and sniffed the air, obviously having heard something further out that spooked it.

"_Ugh...come on..."_ Daryl thought bitterly, the muscles in his shoulders beginning to burn from keeping his heavy crossbow still for so long, the hunter not missing the way the deer now seemed to be more alert.

"_Fuck it...this'll slow 'im down in case he decides to bolt..."_ Daryl surmised the situation, relaxing his arms and then firing off one arrow towards the buck's hindquarters.

The arrow sunk into its target, and the deer took off.

"Here we go..." Daryl said out loud in dry humor, as he sprang up from spot and gave chase to his running prey, leaping over the fallen tree trunk that had given him cover.

The hunter was remarkably light on his feet as he navigated expertly through the woods, never losing sight of the frightened buck, until he heard an unmistakeable sound that stopped him in his tracks.

Daryl Dixon never needed to second guess that sound because it forever haunted his dreams.

The hunter calmed his breathing, and lifted his crossbow, the thickly surrounding trees making it more difficult than usual to ascertain exactly where that noise was coming from.

Daryl focused his hearing for only a moment more, before turning precisely towards a walker that was located several yards away from him, stumbling sloppily around the trees to get to him.

"Found ya, ya fuckin' bastard," Daryl remarked coldly before reloading another arrow into the crossbow, heaving it to its firing position as he brought one eye to the red scope and then shot.

The walker gave one last howl as the arrow pierced right between its bulging eyes and then dropped to the forest floor, and Daryl cursed as he knew that if there any other walkers in the area, they would have heard that awful screech it had just made.

"Shit..." he said quietly as he went to the fallen walker, placed his boot on its discolored and bloody head, and then yanked out the arrow that sent several chunks of blackened blood and skull popping forth.

Arrow and crossbow in his hands, the hunter resumed his task of tracking the deer, easily able to follow the skittish animal that left large, obvious hoof prints in the mud in its haste.

Some scuffed bark on a tree sent the hunter making a sharp left, his steps quickening to a sprint as he could tell the buck had slowed down considerably, either from exhaustion or pain or possibly another walker that had come by.

Either way, Daryl knew he needed to hurry if he wanted the camp to have that meat at all.

Finally, he saw the racing buck come into view again, the single arrow still lodged near its backside.

Ignoring his increasing need for air, Daryl replaced the filthy arrow back into the crossbow, his pace never slowing even as he completed multiple tasks at once.

He had a clear shot that would take the deer down.

Daryl lifted the loaded crossbow aimed at the buck as he stepped over another pile of decayed wood and moss, but just as he did so, a hideously deformed hand reached out from below and grabbed his ankle.

The hunter gasped as he jerked his body forward, the arrow firing off target and striking the deer very close to the first shot, as Daryl spun around in place with a hand already retrieving the long survival knife he kept on his right side.

A walker clumsily got to his feet with unsteady movements, but Daryl only let it get so far before he rushed towards it and jammed the length of the blade through its forehead with a sickening sound.

He retracted his knife, swiped only one flat side of it against his trousers, and then replaced it back in its sheath on his hip, sharp eyes surveying the immediate area while his ears listened for anything farther out.

"_They don't usually come out this far..."_ Daryl thought to himself regarding his run-ins with two walkers out in this part of the woods so far, finding it odd, _"...camp is close now...better start heading that way..."_

Daryl sniffed, adjusted his hold on his crossbow, and walked in the direction he knew would bring him closer to the camp.

The sunlight was mercilessly hot overhead, but Daryl did not mind as he brushed passed bright green leaves that looked like they were painted all around him rather than physically existing.

Daryl could feel himself breathe easier but his fingers still itched to tear apart more walkers, to end their chaotic existence and watch as they dropped like flies before him, his soul still stirring with the need for a satisfying fight.

He could hear some twigs snap not far from where he was.

Daryl pushed aside that wildfire inside him as much as he possibly could as he brought his crossbow up to a perfect shooting position, navigating down a bit of a slope to the landscape as he could hear the subtle noises growing louder and louder.

The hunter locked his jaw, his cerulean eyes squinting against the light as he finally stepped out of the treeline and into plain sight, immediately spotting a few people from camp walking towards his direction, all of them armed with blunt instruments.

Shane saw him first and breathed in relief.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this...filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!" Daryl could not help but growl out as he delivered a few, solid kicks to the side of the fallen walker lying motionless at their feet, his anger swelling.

"Calm down, son, that's not helping..." Dale tried to reason with the quick-tempered redneck but only to suddenly have said person approach him to his face with a quip hot on his tongue.

"What do you know about it, old man?!" Daryl vented his frustration of his hard work going to waste,

"...take that stupid hat and go back to Angola Pond."

The group of men watched as Daryl sighed as he turned back towards the contaminated deer, bloody and gaping before them all.

"...trackin' this deer for miles..." Daryl remarked, mostly to himself, as he swiftly pulled out his two bolts from the deer's useless hide, "...gon' drag it back to camp...cook us up some venison..."

Shane shifted his weight, seemingly annoyed with the hunter's rambling, the whole group merely listening to Daryl vent while no one noticed that one member was positively fixated on him, his blue eyes glued to every movement the hunter made.

"What you think, can't we just cut around this chewed up part right here..." Daryl genuinely asked the group aloud, his eyes looking up to Shane, missing the way the newest member of the group that had just joined the day before could not take his gaze off of him for a second.

"I'd not risk that," Shane answered fairly, earning another sigh from Daryl as he consented in his own way and stood back up to his full height from leaning over the deer.

"That's a damn shame..." the hunter acquiesced, his tone having calmed down considerably as he now just spoke plainly to the rest of the men, "...I got some squirrel; it'll have to do."

Daryl Dixon finally looked towards the stranger's direction as he adjusted his catch that remained tied around his shoulder, immediately seeing sky-blue eyes and pink, parted lips that he did not recognize, but a sound and a movement from the ground commanded everyone's attention at once.

The walker's severed head snapped its jaws a few times, still able to move.

"Come on, people, what the hell..." Daryl spoke up, bringing his crossbow up and only needing a second to aim it at the walker's head before releasing an arrow deep into its eye socket, "...s'gotta be the brain."

The group collectively breathed easier.

"Don't y'all know nothing...?" Daryl said in passing as he stepped around the walker and through the middle of the circle, ready to head back to camp.

He walked casually by the stranger standing there in a clean white tee shirt, and the hunter had missed the way the other man had turned after him so he may continue to watch him leave; light-blue eyes unblinking while a thousand gears tried to overlap one another upon witnessing such a man.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Third Person POV_

A couple days later...

Daryl sat by himself on the edge of the plateau that overlooked the main trail, his broad shoulders drawn down due to stifling worry.

He had just finished putting a pickax through the heads of the walkers as well as their fellow group members that had been killed the previous night, and he needed to rest for a moment.

He chewed a little on the inside of his bottom lip, wishing he had had a cigarette instead, as his mind thought back to the previous couple of days, the details still vividly clear.

Daryl had been devastated to see that his brother had not been on that rooftop after all, finding only his dismembered hand in his wake, and that Merle could now be anywhere or dead for all he knew.

Not knowing was the thing that was eating away at him.

However, when Glenn had been taken, and they had been left to rely on Rick's judgment only, Daryl could not help but feel a little impressed with the new guy's ethic under pressure.

Rick had stepped up, kept them all together when they had not known what to do, and had actually handled the situation better than Daryl would have guessed.

Rick Grimes, as he had introduced himself, had said to Daryl's face that he understood his pain about wanting to find his brother and that he knew what Daryl was going through since he himself had been looking for his family.

At the time, Daryl had wanted to rampage and stomp that Latino kid's ass, but he had heard Rick's words to him...had heard their sincerity and genuine concern being expressed to him.

Rick's electric blue eyes had not left his own until Daryl had been the one to look away, agreeing to remain calm and follow Rick's instructions.

Daryl snorted silently as he tossed another rock out of his hand towards the downward sloping terrain beyond him, watching as it rustled up some dirt from the path and knocked over a few stones on its own.

Something about Rick had commanded his attention and gained his cooperation without too much fuss.

He had trusted him...trusted him to know what was best.

Daryl blinked his eyes down to his hands while that one particular thought stuck with him.

He had been right to do so at the time, but when he and the other men had gotten back to camp to see the massacre happening...

Everyone at the camp had said very little this day, still mourning and feeling the sorrow of their losses from the night prior.

Andrea had not left her deceased sister's side, even in spite of Daryl's own protest.

"Hey Daryl...mind if I sit with you a minute?" spoke a friendly, smooth southern voice from behind the hunter, tearing the latter from his wandering thoughts.

Daryl looked over his shoulder, having to close one eye against the too-bright sunshine as he saw that it was the newest member of their camp wanting to speak with him.

"Do what ya want..." Daryl sort of answered Rick's question, but his words were enough for the older male to step closer and then finally seat himself down on the ground next to him.

"I brought you some water..." Rick offered with a wise tone, knowing that Daryl had to have been feeling pretty dehydrated after all that work he had done outside, "...figured you'd need it."

Daryl eyed Rick's handsome face for an unmoving moment, before reaching a dusty hand out and accepting the cup.

"Thanks," Daryl said simply before bringing the cup to his lips and drinking all of it in a couple of gulps.

Rick smirked and looked out ahead at the same scenery that Daryl was, nothing but rolling hills sprinkled with healthy trees and dirt pathways that snaked up and down most of the territory.

"I uh..." Rick began, his voice lowering along with his eyes and he had to lick his suddenly dry lips to continue speaking to the unpredictable man next to him, "...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry we didn't find your brother."

"Yet...we didn't find him 'yet,'" Daryl added his two cents with another side-glance to the former police officer by his side, his jaw clenching as he peered out to the trees again, "...I know that son of a bitch is still out there, and I'll find him...don't care what it takes."

Rick fixed him with a sympathetic look.

"Daryl, at least let me..." he had begun to say to the redneck before a much louder voice booming out in the distance made him swallow the rest of his words.

"There you two are...wondering what the hell happened to you," Shane announced his presence as he hiked up the hill that they were on, not out of breath and wearing a somber expression on his chiseled features.

Rick smirked and acknowledged his friend's presence with a wave, but his gesture was short lived as he saw from his peripheral vision as Daryl sighed quietly out of his nose and frowned.

Rick cocked his head a little more towards Daryl upon seeing such a negative reaction brought on by Shane approaching them.

As far as he had seen, Shane and Daryl seemed to get along okay enough to at least be civil towards each other.

"What's going on, Shane? You need some help with something?" Rick spoke warmly as he got to his feet, not even bothering to knock the dirt off the seat of his pants.

"Yeah I guess I do," Shane answered, his dark-brown eyes immediately landing on Daryl's sitting form, the hunter not looking at either one of them, "...but it's something I need Daryl to help me with."

"Oh..." Rick answered, a little shocked the Shane would disregard his offer so quickly and was, in fact, watching Daryl's profile like a hawk about to zero in on its prey, "...well, alright then. I'll catch up with you later. We need to talk about how we want to do this trip out of here."

Shane nodded, his hands on his hips as he shifted his weight.

"C'mon Daryl, I know you heard me now," Shane called after Daryl one final time, his voice bordering on condescending to the latter, of which Rick Grimes did not miss.

Rick looked towards the hesitating hunter as he stood up to his full height with a huff and began to trek after Shane who had already turned around to walk back the way he came through the woods, both men leaving Rick standing alone with just the sunset in his eyes.

Rick had wanted to say something else to Daryl before Shane had arrived. Anything would have done to quench his need to try to strengthen the shaky lines of communication between himself and the gruff hunter.

Rick watched them all but disappear in the expansive green that blanketed most of the area, and he realized that he had really wanted to tell Daryl that he had done good work with the rest of them over the past two days.

Going back to Atlanta had been stressful on everyone, and Rick might never forget how broken Daryl had looked once they had discovered that Merle was no where to be found.

In spite of that, Daryl had been a tremendous asset in their quest to retrieve Glenn, having stood firm and unyielding by Rick's side the entire time while they had faced off with those other men, ready to die for what they believed in.

Rick had wanted to tell him that he was glad he had met him.

The former policeman sighed and dropped his head, deciding that he would just have to find another opportunity to really talk to the other man.

Ever since the first time he had seen the younger Dixon brother, Rick had admitted to himself that he truly wanted to get inside the hunter's head and know as much about him as he could.

He could not explain it, but it was there.

Rick walked back to the camp, these thoughts weighing heavily on his mind.

X

Meanwhile, further out into the forest...

"I don't know why the hell you're acting like you don't want it..." Shane's voice would have been a tender coo against Daryl's ear if not for the underlying ice that the latter male knew was present in all of those touches pressed to his body, "...we both know you do."

Daryl frowned at that, but otherwise said nothing as he let Shane slide his hands down his hips, the action inching down his trousers in the process.

"Fine...you can say nothing if you want, but that won't change the fact that I'ma make ya feel real good in a minute," Shane continued, using a burst of strength to suddenly bend Daryl over as one hand grabbed his ass and the other took hold of his chin.

"...would ya just fuckin' wait for a goddamn..." the hunter had began to grumble out but his angry words were cut off as two thick fingers were quickly shoved inside his mouth.

"That's it..." Shane smirked from behind Daryl, watching with cold eyes as the younger male almost seemed to be pacified by the intruding fingers that played with his lips and tongue, the hunter's fury dimming down substantially.

Shane freed his other hand from the hunter's body now that Daryl was sucking his fingers in earnest, quickly undoing his belt and popping the button on his pants.

"You hold on now," the dark-haired male whispered before pulling his sopping wet fingers from Daryl's mouth and bringing them down to his ass, "...I could tell you've been needing this all day...ain't no hiding it from me."

Shane circled his fingers around Daryl's puckered entrance before easing them both inside, forcing Daryl to exhale all the air from his lungs and relax his body to accept the unforgiving pressure.

It was never gentle with Shane, but then, that was how Daryl had originally asked for it to be from the beginning.

The hunter's long, strong arms reached forward and Daryl pressed his hands flat against the rough tree bark.

"...just hurry up and do it already..." Daryl's raspy voice had shaken a little bit, much to his chagrin, as his troubled eyes lowered to the ground and he waited for Shane to make the next move, Daryl honestly only wishing to get this over with.

Shrivels and shreds of the hunter's previous thoughts concerning this arrangement and how he ultimately felt about it, were starting to reform in Daryl's mind, even though he knew it was already too late to do anything about it.

Daryl had been feeling unbelievably depressed ever since returning from their failed mission in Atlanta, a crippling emotion he simply could not get rid of.

Awful anger and sadness had been at odds with each other ever since they had reached that rooftop...and he knew he did need something to make some of his pain go away.

Even so, even with all of that information at the forefront of his mind...Daryl realized now just much he hated being with Shane.

This callous agreement between the two of them was starting to take an ugly toll.

"Heh...you got it," Shane spoke too lightly, his tone irritating Daryl all the more, as the former law enforcer retracting his fingers from Daryl's entrance and then spat in the palm of his hand.

Daryl only had a second to hold his breath before he could feel Shane's massive cock push passed his tight ring of muscle and penetrate his body in one, drawn-out motion.

Daryl swallowed his groan but arched his back until his shoulder blades were pressed flush against Shane's large chest, one of the hunter's hands unconsciously reaching back to find purchase on the other man's thigh.

"Ooh, damn..." Shane purred hotly, pressing a hand against the tree before them both as well for better support, "...can't go easy on ya today...s'gon have to be to be a little rough."

It always was.

"Fine...whatever..." Daryl said in between clenched teeth, his dirt-streaked features scrunched up in reaction to the immediate ache coursing through him and he hoped he would, in fact, feel a little better soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_Rick's POV_

The following day...

"_What the hell...is wrong with me..."_ I thought hollowly to myself, snorting a humorless laugh as my mind continued, _"...actually, the list is too long; I wouldn't even know where to begin."_

We were leaving for the CDC today on my call and I would be lying if said I was not nervous.

Who knew if I was making the right choice?

Who was to say if I was leading everyone straight to their deaths or our greatest chance for survival...?

The outcome could honestly be either one.

We only had so much food and fuel for the trip out to this place, so by the time we got there, we would need a miracle.

I sighed pensively and scrubbed a hand across my face.

Something else was not sitting right with me either...something different with...winter-blue eyes, features carved out of stone, and a boiling hot temper.

Daryl Dixon.

I left my fingers to rest over my eyes, shielding the sun and providing some soothing darkness to fall over my senses for a moment while my mind continued to ponder the most enigmatic element I'd come across since waking up in that hospital.

That man breathed fire and I could not help but be drawn to the flames, finding his personality refreshing to be around as well as wholly captivating.

It did not make sense, and, for the most part, I did not know how to feel about my thinking of him this way.

I couldn't help it.

I knew very little of this man's past, possibly right along with everyone else at this camp, and I could not shove down the pressing need to know more.

I wanted to know what made him tick.

I dropped my hand away from my face and stood up, giving my neck a stretch and releasing the tension that was there.

I turned on the heel of my boot and walked back towards the main area of the camp where I could already hear people moving about, gathering gear and supplies and packing them away for our long haul.

Everyone seemed to be doing something.

I caught sight of Lori and Carl as they helped Carol and Sophia load their things into our vehicle, Carl taking care to make Sophia laugh when he could.

I breathed a smile as well at the heartwarming image.

A few cars lengths behind ours was a blue pickup truck with a person standing in the bed, securing a black motorcycle down with nylon cords and S-shaped hooks.

I swallowed hard, immediately recognizing Daryl's messy brown hair and squared shoulders, and my feet seemed to automatically move me towards him before I could think twice.

I could feel my mouth go dry and tiny twists start to form in the pit of my stomach the closer I got, able to hear the straining sounds of the ropes being pulled tighter down around the machine to the truck bed, eliciting a small grunt from the bowman while he worked.

"Hey Daryl. Could I have a word...?" I announced my presence with what I hoped would be seen as a friendly greeting.

The hunter turned towards me, having to look down from his position in the truck bed and I could not help the side-grin that curved my lips at the sight that met my eyes.

Pale lips were parted and steely blue eyes looked surprised to see me standing there, as he retrieved a simple red rag from his back pocket to wipe his fingers.

"Yeah...? What do ya want?" Daryl spoke in his clipped twang that I had actually come to enjoy listening to when I could, his eyes quickly looking towards anyone else who might be in earshot before landing on me once again.

He always seemed to have his guard up, never really trusting any situation to be what it seemed.

"I um..." I brought a nervous hand to rub a thumb across my damp brow, having to duck my eyes for a second, "...wanted to check to see if you have enough food and things for the trip. You're the only one of us that is traveling alone, so I wanted to make sure you're going to be alright."

The last part had just flown from my mouth, carrying more than one meaning...and I was pretty sure that Daryl had caught onto that by the strange way he looked at me.

Suddenly displaying very obvious signs of uneasiness by what I had said regarding my concern for him, Daryl shifted his weight in the truck bed, as if wanting to put a little more distance between us, looking everywhere but me for a moment.

His eyes narrowed but not out of aggression, as if he was trying to see through me, until he finally fixed me with a sort of angled look and replied in a softer tone, "...yeah...yeah I'm fine. I'll be alright. I can keep up with the rest of ya."

I smirked at that, nodding in agreement as I spared a moment to look towards the rest of the cars and people walking around them with items filling their hands.

"Yeah, I know you can..." I said quietly before turning my gaze totally back towards the hunter, noticing the way his eyes seemed to ask me the questions that his mouth never would, "...it's just that...you're part of this group, Daryl, and I take care of my own...that includes you."

Daryl honestly looked like he wanted to be anywhere but standing there in that truck bed with me talking to him, but I continued, unable to help it at this point as I finally felt some of this strange weight lift free from my chest.

"You need anything, anything at all...or if something happens...you let me know. Got it?" I said finally, my light-blue gaze unwavering as I stared at his diamond-cut features and lovely eyes that had long since found a place on the ground to look at instead of me.

When it happened, it happened fast...too quickly for me to really drink it in.

But I had seen it.

For just a fraction of a moment, Daryl lifted his gaze so that he looked right into my eyes, his hands stilling with the red rag caught between them, and his lips curved into a gorgeous grin.

He was saying thank you without actually speaking the words and I could feel my breath catch in my chest at the unexpected sight.

But as soon as I had seen it, it was gone, as the hunter sniffed in some air and turned his head to look towards the others, just as I had done.

"...need to tell them towards the back to hurry it up...we ain't got all day," Daryl changed the subject, signaling the end of this particular conversation and thus, restoring my ability to breathe normally again.

I nodded with his astute observation, taking a deep but silent breath and peering down the same direction he was.

"I'm going to call a meeting with everyone in about an hour and then we'll be heading out, I reckon," I stated, noticing the way Daryl crouched down low next to the motorcycle, hooking a final cord around it and making sure there was no give in any of the lines, "...see you there."

I did not expect Daryl to answer, having already turned his attention back to his bike, so I smoothly turned around and began making my way back towards the others to offer more help where I could.

"You got it, boss," Daryl's smokey voice reached me, thoroughly stunning me as I whirled around in my place to seek him out once more, his simple phrase having demanded that much from me.

I blinked stupidly as Daryl nodded his head at me, acknowledging me yet again in the warmest way he could, I imagined, and I knew that he and I had just earned an understanding with one another.

Our entire exchange had been relatively simple conversation, but it was something that I was quickly realizing meant a lot to me.

I let him get back to his task with his motorcycle, choosing not to reply any more at the moment, as I righted my steps and continued on the path towards the rest of the caravan.

"_...'you got it, boss'...heh,"_ my mind replayed his last words for me, lighthearted in a sense as Daryl had purposefully chosen such a cheeky response to say back to me, and I caught myself smiling broadly as a result.

That small, shy smile of his was branded in the forefront of my brain more so than anything else, however, the impact of which making my steps seem almost weightless, like I could walk forever.

I chuckled again, as I faced forward, feeling satisfied, feeling accomplished, feeling as if I had made some kind of positive impression on the roguish man every else at this camp seemed to hold at arms' length.

Not me.

Now more so than ever, as if that faint smile of his had acted as some kind of catalyst to my goals, I felt like I wanted to grow closer to the hunter.

I had long since accepted that I wanted to try to be his friend and earn his respect, having seen first hand his value as a skilled hunter and bowman that would ultimately benefit this group.

And if time would let me, if he would let me, I wanted to be able to know everything about him.

Everything.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

_Daryl's POV_

Several nights later, at the Center for Disease Control...

I think some part of me was still in shock that Rick had actually been right about his place. That same part was ignoring the alcohol we all had had to drink earlier and was not letting my mind simply rest with this information.

Everyone had just eaten a good meal, the best we have had in a long time.

Everyone was happy.

I had to hand it to the new guy...he had really come through for us.

I had waited until all the others had taken their showers to finally take mine, knowing that most of the group had already gone to bed for the night and I could take my time.

Our first night here was winding down and the halls were quiet as I passed by all the closed doors and locked rooms.

I was just about to round a corner when the sound of footsteps made me slow down and check the other directions.

I had not counted on anyone else still being awake, taking care to usually keep to myself whenever I could help it and avoid the others.

"What are you still doing awake?" spoke a slow Southern drawl, one that I would recognize anywhere and I felt my nerves start to relax back down to normal again.

Rick.

I turned around and was met with his striking blue eyes that raked over my face despite the dim lighting.

I swallowed the spit that had collected in the back of my throat, lowering my gaze before I spoke.

"I could ask you the same thing. I was jus' on my way to shower now that e'ryone's gone," I answered honestly, knowing that there was no reason so lie or to stubbornly withhold information from this man anymore.

He had earned my respect, so telling him the truth was the least I could do.

However, upon hearing my reply, Rick seemed to suddenly be on edge, as if I had embarrassed him somehow and I could almost see every one of his muscles tense.

He licked his pink lips and his eyes narrowed, causing my level gaze at him to quirk in confusion, wondering what would make his behavior change so quickly.

"Well, uh..." Rick seemed to struggle a bit to speak, having to stop to clear his throat loudly before continuing, "...I'll let you get to it, then."

I nodded and ducked down my head, intending for both of us to go our separate ways now that we've exchanged a few words, but...

A warm, strong hand wrapped around my wrist, holding it firmly but not painfully.

I stopped immediately, my body going rigid, and I quickly snapped my head back towards the former cop, needing to seek out his face.

I had to see what kind of emotions were present in his features, to see if the signs of building aggression I knew all too well were there, so I could then react accordingly.

I needed to know if I needed to defend myself, like I had done countless times before in my life.

All of this flew through my mind within a split second, but perhaps even faster than it had manifested, it disappeared...when I saw that handsome side-grin of his and kind, patient eyes watching me, showing me no kind of hatred whatsoever.

I knew Rick had seen me flinch at this touch.

I could not have hidden it if I had tried.

But instead of worry or damned sympathy reflecting back at me from him, I just saw...Rick, looking pleased, looking happy...right at me.

"I've been wanting to tell you since dinner," Rick began, his pleasant voice kept low so no one else would hear or wake up, and I could feel each of his words thrum through me from how physically close we had gotten to each other, "...I'm glad you're here, Daryl. You could have taken off at any time, said to hell with all of us and went your own way, but you didn't...and I'm really grateful that you decided to stick with us."

"...I...um..." I stammered, me now being the one who could not speak at all, having not expected to hear something like that, such gratitude for something I had not even considered as being substantial.

Whatever words I had wanted to say faded in my mind as I watched as Rick's smile grew even bigger across his face at my verbal failure, and he slowly let his fingers slide from my wrist, releasing me and letting me feel just how long his fingers were.

"There's people here that need you, Daryl...myself being one," Rick admitted surprisingly easily to me, his light-colored gaze still holding mine captive, while his words almost put me in a trance, "...Lord knows I need all the help I can get when it comes to making decisions for us. It's good to have someone like you around...helps me think."

I swallowed hard, barely able to process everything Rick had just told me as I was finally able to look away from his piercing stare so I could try to find my own voice again.

"...'course I'm gon stick around, ain't no sense worryin' about that..." I answered awkwardly, perhaps purposefully not addressing the most important point the other man had brought up as I still could hardly look his way.

I felt the extreme need to regroup from this situation, to recoil from Rick's too-blue gaze and put some more distance between us, distance that would lessen the impact of his words against my skin and beneath it.

"Fair enough," Rick spoke happily, seemingly content with my answer as he did take a step towards the direction he needed to go, "...goodnight Daryl. Get some sleep."

I nodded.

"...'night," I replied simply, not really knowing what else I should say, as I watched him leave the corridor and silently slip inside one of the rooms, him giving me one final look before doing so.

I brought up a hand and rubbed briefly at my eye, still hearing Rick Grimes' words to me, still feeling the initial shock of them.

"_...he said he needs me...likes having me around,"_ I thought to myself, unable to help the small smile that tugged at my lips as I rearranged the towel that I had draped across my shoulder.

I continued walking towards my destination though my steps were considerably slower than they had been a few minutes ago.

I took a deep breath and released it slowly, deciding that it felt good to be acknowledged by a man like Rick.

Someone like Rick still had honor in this godforsaken hellhole; someone like Rick said exactly what he meant without reservation.

People could trust him.

I could trust him.

So, receiving praise like that...from Rick...actually did mean a lot to me, I realized.

"...huh..." I mused aloud as I walked right into the shower area and tossed my towel over one of the high, horizontal bars, "...well, what do ya know..."

I turned on the water.

Something none of us knew was that this whole place would be up in flames in a matter of only a few hours, and we would be forced out onto the road again...

...without a place to stay...just like last time.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_Daryl's POV_

Sophia was missing.

Tensions were running unbelievably high.

Everyone had a chip on their shoulder and no one could blame the other for it.

Stuck out on this highway as we were, it was a miracle that a fight had not broken out amongst any one of us yet.

But then...I had been noticing more and more the furious way Shane had been looking at me, like I had done something wrong, like he had done something wrong...and he needed to let his anger out.

I knew he and Rick had been having some problems with each other lately; nothing anyone else could do about it, though.

It was their own business, and I tended to keep mine to myself.

Glenn, Shane, Rick and I had already retraced Rick and Sophia's steps in the woods, leading us to a small river bank where they had split up.

Their footsteps had been easy to follow up to this point, even with Glenn walking all over them and me having to tell him to get his ass off of our tracks.

However, Sophia still had yet to be seen, not being in the place Rick had left her and everyone of us could see how much this fact was quickly eating away at the former cop.

I crouched down low to the ground once we ascended back onto higher ground from the water, my eyes searching for the distinct markings in the dirt and the sweep of the leaves that I had been trained to spot, the rest of the small group behind me.

"...doing just fine 'til right here; all she had to do was keep going," I announced to the others, pointing to a new direction, "...she veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked, a fair question for us all to think about given how oddly her trail had turned when it truly had been a straight shot back to the highway.

"Maybe she saw something...spooked her...had her run off...?" Shane answered reasonably, looking back at us all.

"Walker?" Glenn's voice grew worried with just the single word.

I shook my head to indicate the negative.

"I don't see any other footprints 'sides hers," I replied solemnly, adding to everyone's confusion, no doubt.

We decided that some of us should head back to the others still sitting on the highway to let them know that we were still looking for Sophia and that we had managed to find her trail at all.

Carol, most of all, needed to know this much from us so far.

Rick and I were to stay behind in the woods to continue our search, him following me closely while I kept my eyes glued to the forest floor.

Rick really was terrible at tracking, so I remained patient with him as I explained that Sophia's tracks were faint but not completely gone while we continued to slowly navigate down the path I created.

"How can you tell?" Rick asked me and I could hear the bafflement as well as an underlying tone of admiration in his voice as he continued, "...I don't see anything, dirt...grass..."

"You wanna lesson in trackin' or you wanna find that girl and get our ass off that interstate...?" I answered his puzzlement with a playful question of my own while we walked next to each other, Rick only taking a step once I did.

In spite of our current predicaments, I felt calm, totally at ease with looking for tracks in the woods as I was with the leader of our group.

I was Zen.

Rick, of course, looked troubled, riddled with guilt and worry, and he stuck close to me as a result.

I didn't mind.

I was in my element and doing something I was good at with someone I respected by my side.

Suddenly, we spotted a walker, the rustling of leaves making us both squat down low so we were less likely to be seen.

Rick and I operated well together, as it turned out. With only a few soundless gestures between us, we easily cornered the walker and I put a bolt through its skull from a few yards behind.

We quickly decided that we needed to cut the damn thing open to see if any body parts resembling the girl we were looking for were inside it.

"How many kills you skin and gut in your life...?" I posed the rhetorical question to the city cop, offering in my own way to be the one to do the dirty work as I stood over the fallen walker, adjusted my gloves, and readied my buck knife, "...and mine's sharper..."

Rick looked like he wanted to throw up, the poor guy, but I paid his green expression little mind as I continued my task, knowing that it had to be done and he would get over it.

Rib cages were a bitch to saw open, but after a few tries I was able to separate the bones I needed.

"Here comes the bad part..." I commented aloud in somewhat humorless jest, before I pulled the walker's torso open even wider, revealing dead, blackened insides.

I had pity on the squirming man next to me and dug in, jerking free a few organs that were in the way of the intestines so I could follow their girth and see if it had eaten something recently.

"Yeah...hoss had a big meal not long ago...I feel it in 'ere..." I said calmly to Rick, having to lean towards him while I worked, able to feel the unprocessed carcass of something inside of it.

Rick piped up and offered to see what it was that the walker had eaten.

He seemed a little steadier than before, as he used his blade to rip open the stomach I had pulled free for him, both of us worried about what we might find but not speaking a word about it.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch..." I concluded, holding up the bloodied skull on the tip of my knife for us both to see, feeling relieved as Rick and I both stood up to leave the site.

But still...we still had no sign of Sophia, either dead or alive.

I knew the others would hear this news and despair.

Especially Carol...

But I refused to think that way. I did not want to give up on this like I had given up on so many things.

It was with heavy hearts that Rick and I decided to go back to the others on the highway; they'd be waiting for us and it was beginning to get dark outside.

I could hunt and track well but everyone got lost in the dark.

I was no different.

Even though we had confirmed that the only walker we had come across in that area had not gotten Sophia, Rick still looked torn.

I could tell he was angry at himself...I knew because I had seen that same expression on myself more times than I could count.

My chest twisted at the sight of it on someone like him.

"Don't worry..." I spoke quietly, intimately, for only Rick to hear and no one else, not even the trees that we slowly passed, "...we'll find her."

His sky-colored blue met mine in a gentle flash and the faintest of smiles touched his lips, a smile that clearly said 'thank you' to me, and I nodded to him to tell him that he was welcome.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

_Daryl's POV_

But we hadn't found her yet.

More days had passed, and we still had not been able to locate Sophia.

The group was broken, in my opinion.

To make matters worse, Carl had been shot in some freak accident and now all of us were holed up on some farmer's land while he recovered.

Rick had never looked worse.

I hated seeing him so pale and distraught over his boy.

The only good thing about staying at this farm was that it offered better resources to look for Sophia.

I forced myself to focus on this task and nothing else.

Rick needed his space and I respected that.

Even Shane seemed to be pushing his limits with everyone.

Ever since he alone had come back from the medical supplies run he and Otis had gone off on, he had been different.

After we had done our memorial for Otis, Shane had come to me, demanding sex with hate and judgment in his eyes.

It had been awful, and I was still a little sore from just how rough it had gotten. Several times during it, Shane has mumbled to himself 'not my fault...wasn't my fault' and each time after he had said it, his thrusts would be even more violent.

Damn him.

But I couldn't think about that anymore, not when I was supposed to be taking the lead in finding Carol's daughter.

Everyone was counting on me.

X

"Alright, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we been so far," Rick spoke up as our group gathered around the hood of a car, all of us looking over a large white map that detailed the terrain.

"I'd like to help" spoke up someone from Hershel's group, a young man with an even voice but inexperience shining in his eyes, "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked him squarely, turning to take a good look at him.

He looked too green, in my opinion.

"Yeah," the kid piped up before realizing he needed to say more, "...yeah, he said I should ask you."

"Alright then, thanks," Rick agreed to have him help, not that I cared one way or the other about it

"About where Daryl found the farmhouse, it ain't screaming Sophia to me," Shane decided he needed to comment on the topic, earning a sharp glare from me for more than one reason, "...anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."

"Anyone includes her, right," Andrea countered smartly, but then I quickly recalled a piece of information from when I was there, prompting me to speak up.

"Well, whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than ye high," I said to the rest of the search party, letting them all know that a small child could most definitely have been hiding in that house from the looks of things.

"Good lead," Andrea affirmed with a nod from across the the car.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," Rick said optimistically, his hands laying across the map spread out but his eyes were glued to my mine.

He was beginning to make me nervous.

"No 'maybe' about it," I quipped back to the former police officer before continuing, "but I'm going to borrow a horse, head up this ridge right here and get a birds-eye view of the whole grid...if she's there, I'll spot her."

T-Dogg nodded as Dale settled in next to me at the front of the car and said, "Good idea. Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there, too."

That bastard...

"Chupacabra?" Rick asked at once, his eyebrows raising at me out of sheer curiosity as well as a tell-tale sign of disbelief.

"What, you never heard this?" Dale chose to fill in the blanks of the story for us all, "...the first night in camp, Daryl tells us the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and saw a chupacabra."

Rick looked like he didn't know what he should say, but that punk kid next to him laughed.

"What're you braying at, jackass?" I glared at that little shit, ready to beat his ass for laughing at me.

"...so you believe in a bloodsucking dog...?" he posed the smart ass question to me, moronic smile on his face.

I squared my shoulders and swiped a thumb across my cheek.

"You believe in dead people walkin' around...?" I shot right back to him, proving to him that crazy things can exist in this world and very little should be taken lightly anymore.

That shut him up and Rick looked like he wanted to smile, that is, until that same little bastard tried to grab one of our hunting rifles.

"Hey hey...ever fire one before?" Rick quickly retrieved the firearm back and posed the question to him, all of us needing to hear his answer before proceeding.

"Well, if I'm going out, I want one," he answered...if one could even call that an answer.

I adjusted my crossbow on my back, having had enough of this meeting and these people.

"Yeah...and people in Hell want Slurpees," I joked darkly before walking off to begin my task of looking for Sophia, ready to be by myself and do something I knew I was good at.

X

_Rick's POV_

Many hours later...

Too much time had gone by.

It had been all morning and afternoon that he had been gone and the sun was beginning to set as it was...and still no signs of Daryl or Sophia.

The rest of the camp was going about their business, like everything was just fine.

But it wasn't.

I had spent some time with Lori and Carl earlier, and now everyone was outside on the property, keeping watch or doing their respective chores.

I hated that Daryl had not come back yet.

There would be no way for any one of us to track him, either...so he was totally on his own.

"I'm better on my own,"he had told me once before leaving towards the woods to begin a previous solo search for the girl, refusing my help in his own way whence I had stopped him to chat.

That never had set right with me and my worry was starting to justify itself with him still being gone this late in the day.

"Walker! Walker!" Andrea suddenly called out from the top of the RV, looking out towards the distant tree line several hundred yards away from the house, causing all of us to quickly be on high alert.

Shane, T-Dogg, Glenn, and I grabbed our weapons immediately and raced towards the moving figure emerging more and more into sight from the trees, seeing as it was just one, we needed to take it out quietly.

It seemed to be dragging one of his feet, one side more limp than the other and his head was down, but even from this far away, I could see the large streaks of blood that coated the walker's chin and chest.

We hurried our pace through the field until stopping just before it, and I lifted my heavy handgun, the rest of the guys at my flanks.

He was breathing hard, and...lifted his head.

Daryl...?

Daryl was pale as a ghost and covered in dirt from head to toe, bright red blood staining his mouth for reasons that were escaping me at this point because I was just so shocked to see him in this condition...and that he had come back to me regardless of what had happened.

My heart pulled and thudded inside my chest.

"Is that Daryl?" Glenn spoke up first, his young voice breaking through my haze of seeing Daryl like this and causing all of us to breathe a sigh of relief.

He looked like he had just been through hell...

"It's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head..." Daryl growled out to me specifically, his voice strained with dehydration and hardship recently endured, "you gon' pull the trigger or what...?"

His slight jab at the circumstance made me quickly lower my gun so I could put it back inside the leather holster on my hip, the rest of us sort of shuffling for a second, glad that he was not a walker and was well enough to crack a joke at us.

Suddenly, a shot rang out across the field and the next thing I knew, Daryl's head whipped to one side and his body was thrown to the ground from the force.

Daryl had been shot.

Someone had just shot Daryl!

"No!" I hollered as loudly as I could back to the rest of the camp, waving my arms in a cease-fire motion, before all of us rushed to the fallen man's side.

Seeing him lie there in the grass like that, covered in blood, having just been shot, I could feel my heart racing a mile a minute, praying he was not just shot and killed by accident in front of us all.

I needed him to be alive.

Once I saw his features scrunch together in pain, the poor man probably barely able to remain conscious right now, I knew he was still breathing.

Thank God.

Shane pulled the necklace back that had fallen into his mouth as well as swatted away the hunter's filthy hand that had automatically lifted to touch his new wound, a shallow graze on the side of his head by the look of it, but it was already pouring blood down the side of his face.

Shane and I grabbed his arms and hauled him up, supporting his weight on either side and I kept my eyes glued to the way Daryl buried his face in his shoulder, most definitely in blinding pain right now.

"...I was kidding..." Daryl managed to choke out but I could not laugh even if I had wanted to.

Daryl could have died, right here and now.

I squeezed his bloodied hand tighter as we carried him back to the house.


End file.
